Woodford Investment Management stake in Kier falls after rights issue

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(This Dec 21 story corrects to make clear why the stake has fallen, in headline and paragraphs 1 and 2.)

(Reuters) - Woodford Investment Management, the investment house owned by influential fund manager Neil Woodford, saw its stake in troubled British builder Kier Group Plc (KIE.L) fall after it did not take up all its rights in a share issue, a regulatory filing showed on Friday.

The filing showed Woodford, which was Kier’s biggest shareholder before the stake sale according to Refinitiv Eikon data, saw its shareholding drop to 13.58 percent from 15.40 percent.

Investors took up just 38 percent of Kier’s highly discounted share issue on Thursday, highlighting tough times for the construction sector and a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Woodford had decided to take up only about half of its rights from the offer.